Flo, I would check with customer service. I thought I saw people posting on the MOUL forum that GameTap would do a refund but I think it would be from the time of the server shutdown on April 4. GameTap customer service can tell you if that is true or not. I plan on canceling at that time as I was there for MOUL only.

Becky, somewhere (I hate to say that but my mind has been so distracted from all this...) that Cosmic Osmo is coming to GameTap. I think Cyan's relationship with them also extends to making casual games that can play on GameTap (and as the article indicates, pay the bills) Possibly they will make other games to add on to the casual gaming list. I would hate to see Cyan go under but like all of us, they have to pay the bills..... so hard decisions had to be made.

One thread on the MOUL forum said that if they could have released the tools for fan created ages and had the main public city with the ablity to branch out into those fan made ages, than this might have taken off mightly. I have to agree there and an additional year of Until Uru would have been acceptable while they readied that material, but obviously that didn't happen.

I have to give a heartfelt thanks to all the Uru folk in Second Life who are adopting all of us refugees and showing us the way. They have made the transition less difficult and it is wonderful to be able to continue being with such extraordinary people. That was my biggest fear when this was announced, losing touch with all the great friends I have made.

I will cancel my membership (opened since the announcement of MOUL) for the same reasons. I haven't had much if any time to play this last year - but maintained a yearly subscription to support URU Live anyways.

I never got into any of the other games because I have hard copies or DL versions (or even both) of the ones I would play - the rest didn't interest me. Except for MOUL ... This is going through the whole death of URU all over again..

I wonder if one of the 'heads' of the 'boomer bevin' would maybe have some announced 'get together & say goodbye' days/evenings! Even some that are later for us in states but good for our members who are in other countries.....??? Is hard to know when 'boomer friends sometimes will be on and would be nice to acknowledge them and get a chance to say 'goodbye'.

I expect that there will be lots of parties as the time grows near for it to be shut down. Last time, when the Prologue shut down in 2004, as I recall, people spent the last several days hanging out together before the end.

It became a kind of marathon where people were going without sleep for two or three days.

Here's a link to gatorlaw's thoughts about the original Uru Live shut down mentioned above. Deja vu all over again?

Hi all,Since Gametap had their own neighborhood in Uru Live, I wanted to come over and give you as much information as I had on the closing. If you want to follow the story, and have questions or comments, here is everything that was said officially, including announcements and interviews.

February 6, 2008 - Ten Ton Hammer (a site for MMO games) reports on the cancellation of Uru Live. This is an interview with Ricardo Sanchez, VP of Content and Creative Director for GameTap. I think it's a good read.http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/21747

We are talking about this over at the Myst Online Uru Live forums, where I mod, in great, some might even say "excessive" detail (not me, I rather like the discussions). Come on over if you want to read or post. The threads in the General Discussion thread are the most lively, with every sort of an opinion it's possible to have. There are also annoucements of farewell parties. http://www.mystonline.com/forums/

It was just a sense of waste and loss to me (and I never expected that game to affect me that way in the beginning) when after all that testing - prep - the 1st incarnation of URU live ended. Now to see it build up and then happen again - well it is an adjustment.

I do think that Game Tap tried to give it a good run, but I really only supported Game Tap because of MOUL. I thoroughly enjoy the Sam n Max re birth - but have gotten it straight from their site and then as a CD collection when the year end release was available - so otherwise nothing for me there. Rand Miller is one of the nicest people in the biz, he is enthusiastic, creative and has a firm grasp on the importance of a healthy child in our internal Psyche. Though I have never been a deep fan of the Myst series, I respect his creative drive and do adore what he envisioned and realized with URU Live - MOUL.

Game Tap - well I am sure they will be fine regardless of this game or that. Anything that supports Cyan - I will on the other hand - be there.

Spent a few hours today partying in the City and then in the karaoke Bevin. Lots of fun to be had all over the Cavern.

The choir has decided to pull together a song or two to sing goodbye, probably at the St. Paddy's Day festivities. We weren't planning on starting rehearsals again until the end of February due to the crazy schedule of our director, Dom, so we members have kind of been on our own the past few days, trying to figure out what we want to do. It looks like we have a song in D'ni that someone was already working on and perhaps an Irish song as well. Nothing is set in stone yet. But I thought I'd share the info in case it makes a difference in people canceling their subscriptions later rather than earlier.

I, too, have a persona in Second Life. I created it months ago but wasn't overly impressed with the game or the people I met so I never went back after my first attempt. However, knowing that so many of my MOUL friends will be heading there makes me willing to give it another shot. My SL name is Lark McGinnis.

_________________________Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Just a note to those seeking a refund.. please contact customer service via either phone or webchat before going off of policy. My understanding is that exceptions are being made in this situation.

Macnbc is a Moderator over at GameTap, and as a fan and member of the MO:UL forums as well, has been especially helpful during these sad times. If anyone has questions about a refund, I would try as he suggests and contact customer service. Hopefully, you'll be one of the exceptions.

I just tried SL again and I am so lost. I'm hoping one of you will be there at some point tomorrow to show me the ropes. I added the Myst groups I wanted to join but I can't figure out how to actually get to the physical locations where the MOUL refugees are. I'm trapped in a Celtic jewelry shop. Not a bad place to be, granted, except a vampire showed up tonight and I was a bit weirded out.

Maybe I need to start a SL thread...

_________________________Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

I originally joined gametap just for Uru also but luckily have enjoyed their rpg's. They have no adventure games that I want to play since any I'm interested in, I own. Their selection of adventures really stinks. I may try Sam and Max though I really don't care for cartoons usually.

Like I said though, I really was happy to see several rpg's I don't own there that I like. It's very disappointing for those who don't play anything but adventures though and I certainly hope they will give refunds.

_________________________
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks mszv for the links making a new tidy summary. Seeing the "old timers" mszv,gatorlaw and which2 on this thread underlines how important Uru has been to the gaming community. I am glad that I have been a part of it and still have hopes that somehow the idea of Uru will live on in some way.

gamenut-we are all "heads" of the Boomer Bevin, so just name a time. We still have St Paddy's Day and now a choir concert to look forward to. I guarantee that as April approaches you will see many online.

Of course we will have a final farewell party. So many old and new friends, such a helpful and caring group-how can we not gather to celebrate the hours we have all spent together!

In addition, Gamasutra asked Sanchez about the recently-announced decision to close down Myst Online: Uru Live.

Based on GameTap parent Turner's relationship with Myst developer Cyan and the fact that the game was already fully developed, Sanchez says, it was a good opportunity to test the waters.

"We were interested in what effect it would have on our subscriber base," Sanchez explains. "We found, as we were making the game available to consumers, that the audience was not as large as we initially thought it would be. There are not as many people interested in an adventure MMO as our initial research led us to believe."

In the end, Sanchez says, there simply didn't appear to be a growth opportunity there. "It was doing okay; it would have continued to do okay. But we weren't going to be able to financially support it to create enough content to make it a fabulous game."